What???

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. It has been way too crazy 'round these parts. I thought that by now things would be getting less crazy, but in fact, the craziness has doubled! Where to begin.

We have enjoyed the warm weather. Bella and I have been getting a little 1 on 1 time with Coop in school and when Charlotte takes a nap. It's nice. I've been telling her how I love her new freckles and she wanted me to get a picture, so I tried. They're kind of hard to see, but so cute!

Caroline decided one day she wanted her ears pierced. Growing up, I had to wait until I was 8. I think only my sister Jill had to wait that long too. I decided it wasn't that big of a deal if she got them now. I was kind of surprised 'cause she had been saying she was going to wait until she was 8 or older. So we went down there and took the camera and everything and wouldn't you know that it recorded all the way up until right before they shot the earrings through her ear. Fortunately, or not, the girl was totally incompetent and we had to go back the next day to get one of them re-pierced because it was way too close to her head. I was surprised that Caroline agreed to do it. She looked at it and said in the most serious tone, " you're right Mom. We better do it again." It would have bugged me forever if we didn't. So..... this time we got the video. :)

We had the house under contract and it fell through. Quite discouraging. It wasn't totally unexpected, but still a disappointment. We went down to Sandy for Brian's last weekend here and my family helped to watch the kids so we could go to  a BYU football game and then have an all day date the next day. It was wonderful! The BYU game was so fun. I haven't been to one since we left there like 10 years ago. We met up with Jill and Paul and that was fun too.

So for our date, it was a surprise. We woke up and got breakfast at IHOP. Yummy! After, we headed over to the Jordan River Temple to do some initiatories. It's been a while since we've gone together. I think the last time was about a few months ago and I went alone. I was to our temple, through initiatories and back in my front door in 45 minutes. Amazing! Anyway, after the temple we had to run an errand for the car, then we tried to find some clothes for Brian. No success that try, so we headed up the mountain for a hike. For some reason I thought I liked hiking and just didn't do it because of the kids. However, I think I've realized I just don't like hiking. Even though I've been exercising for like 10 months, my lungs just don't handle it well. It was good we did it though. It compensated for eating out every meal!

 

After our hike we did site checking for a photo shoot I had the next day and then went to Pei Wei for lunch. We had a successful shopping trip afterwards for a pair of jeans for Bri and then quickly headed off to an IMAX showing of Contagion. It was really awesome on that screen. Good movie. Kind of made me even more paranoid. I really want a gun now! For reals! After that I met up with my sisters and Mom for the womens conference. It was a great day. We don't get time like that alone. Date nights are expensive with babysitters and all, so this was nice a little more carefree. It was a long needed time together!

Brian left later that week so we went down to Sandy for conference weekend. We had to be there for what could be our last penny walk. The kids love it and it's tradition. Here's the crew before we started.

Once we reach "the corner", each family takes a turn telling about what happened since the last time we did it. It's usually every 6 months, but we missed last time, so it's been a year for everyone. A lot has happened in that year. New jobs, 4 new babies, marriage, movings. Quite amazing the changes in 1 year.

Here are a few pics of the happenings. The kids were all very focused on the digging up of past pennies. We got the 4 babies all lined up and a few other shots of everything going on.

WeeMama had promised the kids a treasure hunt and the days kept going by, so she had to do it at the cemetery. Kind of creepy. The kids loved it though. She was off doing her thing and then we heard her saying something about someone being pregnant. We all kind of paused to think about it and then we all turned and looked. She busted up laughing and thought she was pretty funny.  It was funny though. It was a good time. Afterwards we went to a park and had a great meal and cake. Good times!

And last but not least, our baby girl turned 1. Crazy! I finished her bday video and watching the newborn in there it made me tear up. I love newborns! I love my babies and I love my kiddos. It was a pretty laid back day. We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and a few errands. The kids had friends over and then we ate dinner, had her open her 1 present, a book, and then did the cake and went to bed. The kids loved watching Charlotte get into her cake. It was fun to watch. She seemed to enjoy it too. Bri watched from Skype. We're lucky to have that technology! She's a sweet little thing and we love her!

Phew! That should do for now. I'm sure I'm missing something important, but I'm tired and need to go to bed!

11 months

So Charlotte hit 11 months 2 days ago but I just haven't had the time to get any pictures, not that it really matters, 'cause this is what I dealt with.

 I tried to make her all clean and cute and it just did not last. She wanted that headband out, so I guess in actuality we got realistic 11 month pictures. I do love the bottom one though, messy hair and all, since that is how she normally is. I wish I were better at keeping their hair all nice and cute.
After a few minutes she was DONE and was letting me know! Love that I caught this face!

 But then another moment later, I caught this face. Very quick transition on emotions!

 She's got such a sweet face.

 I had a moment and had to get out of the house and when I came home, this is how she was....

Brian took her outside while he picked over the garden and this is how she usually ends up. However, you can see she is much happier taking  these pictures. Who doesn't love a green tomato?!

Update 9-7-11

I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever feel like life is calming down or if I will be in this constant state of feeling like I have no time or order to my life. We're still waiting on the house to sell. No great movement in that area unfortunately. That's probably why I'm feeling so crazy inside. I know my days as a duo parent are limited.

Well, we are starting to get a daily routine. The girls are enjoying school and that's wonderful! They've already had a fun week and one of the days was crazy hair day. This is what we ended up with. They were just on their way out to school. They've been riding their scooters everyday which I was nervous about at first, but it's working out great.

 Cooper has been anxiously awaiting his starting of preschool and today that finally happened. It was a great moment for him. He was so excited. He looked so cute! His preschool is so awesome. He gets to take swimming, tumbling and tennis lessons, so it's a great opportunity, at least for as long as we're here.

After I dropped him off, we came home, put Charlotte in bed for her nap and then it was just me and this cute thing. Glad we have some one on one time. How could you not with a cute face like this?!

My buddy

I love this girl! She's growing up a little too fast these days! I think she's pretty awesome!

School begins

So I haven't even finished catching up on summer and now we're in school. I've had a hard time finding the time to sit down at the computer and catch up. Just a few recaps:

Papa John had all the grandkids (minus babies) sleep out in the tent under the lights from Caroline and Jayde's wedding. They started out with a movie and popcorn and surprisingly all made it through the night, well, aside from Isabelle and Porter who came out before the movie really got going. Super cute.

We've had a lot of fun cousin time. Here's Will and Charlotte.

We had our Porter Family Reunion. Everyone came and stayed at our house and we had lots of fun things planned. The first night we hung out and played games. Caroline and Jayde made a huge plate of doughnuts and everyone contributed to some goodies which we fed on while we played games.

The next day we went boating at Hyrum lake. It turned out to be a great day. The kids were great and had a blast. Charlotte hung out a lot in the play pen, which was heaven!

There was a little bit of indecent exposure. She's very comfortable in her own skin! :)

My handsome husband!

The girls having a blast on the boat.

A lot of water skiing

And the tubing was awesome! All the kids did it! My arms were totally stiff the next day!

 We did finally take C

Me and Isabelle

 The whole crazy crew!
 

After a long hard day of play we had an adult competition on the Kinect. There were some seriously awesome moves going on that night! And although I am totally zonked out on the couch, it really was a blast!

The next day we had various activities such as a 5K. The Men.....

The Women.....

Then some serious duck duck goose followed by a great awards ceremony. It was a blast! Each year 1 of the siblings and spouse plan it. This year it was Mellie and Greg and they did a great job with all the activities they planned.

That following Wednesday the girls started school. That morning we had our before school breakfast. It was supposed to be dinner, but I was just not in the mood for it that night, so we pushed it to the morning. The theme this year is Adventurous. Since we have so many new things coming our way, I thought it was fitting to make it the theme for this school year.

The girls were pretty excited to start school. Caroline more than Liz.

And all the kids wanted to be in the picture before school. So far the year has gone pretty good. 3 days down, I don't know how many more to go! Great start to the school year and great ending to the summer!

Time is flying!

Time is going so fast I feel like I can't keep up. There are too many:
- rooms to clean
- loads of laundry to do
- decisions to make
- meals to cook
- people to make happy
- pictures to go through

 I don't know. I'm sure I could come up with a lot more, but I won't. Charlotte hit 10 months yesterday.I know, not a major milestone, but it means another round of pictures for me. And I love it of course. So here are a few of our little girl. Such a good and sweet little thang!

These are just a few everyday shots. The things she's constantly putting in her mouth.....

.... finding lipstick and smearing it on her face and carpet........

..... breakfast food stuck on her face...... Love it!

Ears pierced- photos

Just before Elizabeth was 8 years old she had mentioned getting her ears pierced, so we said, " when you're 8". Then the time came and the thought of earrings being shot through her ears changed her mind. Well last night, out of the blue she asked if she could get her ears pierced today and I said, "sure". So she was anxious for me to call around and find a place to get them done. I couldn't find anywhere in the mall and one place was a piercing/tatoo parlor and the review online was not for piercing ears if you get what I mean, so I thought to call Wal-Mart. I told Brian it feels kind of ghetto getting it done there, but whatever. So the whole fam piled in the car and headed to Wal-Mart. I was really surprised that 1- she wanted them pierced and 2- that she was going through with it. It was the funniest watching the kids watching her. So here are some pics to monument the day.

Ears pierced!

Bella turns 3

We were actually driving home for Bella's bday, so we didn't even tell her it was her birthday until the 12th. She's been so anxious for her birthday since everyone, except for Charlotte, has been before her birthday. She told me she wanted a Dora cake for her birthday, but when it came down to it, with all the unpacking, laundry and "back to life" stuff I had, I told her I'd let her pick out some cupcakes. I love making the cakes, but 1- they take a lot of time and 2- my kids don't eat a lot of cake anyway, so I end up feeling like I need to eat it so it doesn't go to waste. She was happy enough with picking out her cupcakes so I was good with that.

She's such a sweet girl and we love her so much. I can't believe she's 3. I remember Elizabeth at this age so well. They remind me a lot of each other. I think all in all she had a pretty good day.